| News from the American College of Surgeons For Immediate Release: June 30, 2010 |
Contact: Sally Garneski Sarah Byrd |
71 Florida Hospitals Join Florida Surgical Care Initiative
Led by the Florida Hospital Association and the American College of Surgeons, Effort to Improve Surgical Quality Will Be Largest Statewide Surgical Collaborative in the Nation
Tallahassee, FL, and Chicago, IL (June 30, 2010) – A little over a month after announcing the creation of the Florida Surgical Care Initiative (FSCI) – a unique statewide collaboration of the Florida Hospital Association (FHA) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) – 71 hospitals have signed letters of intent to join the program to date. The hospitals include urban and rural, large and small, and academic and non-academic hospitals from all regions of the state. The goal is to recruit at least 100 Florida hospitals to the program, which will officially kick off in October.
FSCI, which was announced May 18 during the National Patient Safety Foundation’s 12th Patient Safety Congress in Orlando, focuses on reducing surgical complications and improving the quality of care in participating hospitals.
“In just over one month, hospitals have shown their commitment to making Florida a national leader in surgical quality by enthusiastically responding to this important effort,” said Bruce Rueben, FHA president. “Quality health care is our top priority, and we look forward to working with hospitals across the state to prevent surgical complications and improve care for our patients.”
“We are very encouraged by the response from the Florida hospitals,” said Clifford Ko, MD, FACS, director of the ACS Division of Research and Optimal Patient Care. “Florida hospitals will show the nation that by working together, they can improve care across an entire state.”
Supported in part by a grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, FSCI will focus on four high-impact areas: surgical site infections, urinary tract infections, colorectal surgery outcomes, and elderly surgery outcomes. The initiative was developed based on the ACS National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP), a program that uses risk-adjusted, clinical, 30-day outcomes data to track surgical patient outcomes. ACS NSQIP has been shown to significantly reduce complications and deaths in participating hospitals. Hospitals also reduce unnecessary costs by preventing complications, which studies have shown add up to $11,000 to the average cost of care.
Hospitals participating in FSCI include:
- Adventist Health System
- Florida Hospital Altamonte
- Florida Hospital Celebration Health
- Florida Hospital East Orlando
- Florida Hospital Heartland Medical Center
- Florida Hospital Kissimmee
- Florida Hospital Orlando
- Florida Hospital Waterman
- Florida Hospital Winter Park
- Baptist Health
- Baptist Medical Center Beaches
- Baptist Medical Center Downtown
- Baptist Medical Center Nassau
- Baptist Medical Center South
- Baptist Health
- Baptist Hospital, Inc.
- Baptist Hospital, Inc. d/b/a/ Gulf Breeze Hospital
- Baptist Health Care
- Baptist Hospital of Miami, Inc.
- Doctors Hospital
- Homestead Hospital
- South Miami Hospital
- Bay Medical Center
- BayCare Health System
- Broward Health
- North Broward Medical Center
- Cleveland Clinic Florida Weston
- Flagler Hospital, Inc.
- Halifax Health Medical Center
- Health First, Inc.
- Cape Canaveral Hospital
- Holmes Regional Medical Center
- Palm Bay Hospital
- Jackson Health System
- Jackson Memorial Hospital
- Jackson North Medical Center
- Jackson South Community Hospital
- Jupiter Medical Center
- Lakeland Regional Medical Center
- Lee Memorial Health System
- Cape Coral Hospital
- Gulf Coast Medical Center
- HealthPark Medical Center
- Lee Memorial Hospital
- Martin Memorial Health Systems, Inc.
- Martin Memorial Hospital South
- Martin Memorial Medical Center
- Mayo Clinic Florida
- Memorial Healthcare System
- Memorial Hospital Miramar
- Memorial Hospital Pembroke
- Memorial Hospital West
- Memorial Regional Hospital
- Memorial Regional Hospital South
- Mount Sinai Medical Center
- Munroe Regional Medical Center
- NCH Healthcare System
- NCH Downtown Naples Hospital
- NCH North Naples Hospital
- Orlando Health
- Orlando Regional Medical Center
- Dr. P. Phillips Hospital
- Parrish Medical Center
- Sacred Heart Health System, Inc.
- Sacred Heart Hospital of Pensacola
- Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast
- Sacred Heart Hospital on the Gulf Coast
- Sarasota Memorial Hospital
- Shands Jacksonville
- St. Vincent's HealthCare
- St. Luke's Hospital
- St. Vincent's Medical Center
- Tallahassee Memorial Hospital
- Tampa General Hospital
- University Community Health
- Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital
- University Community Hospital-Carrollwood
- University Community Hospital-Medical Center
- University of Miami Hospital
- Winter Haven Hospital
Hospitals interested in joining the initiative can find more information at www.FloridaSurgicalCare.org.
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About the Florida Hospital Association
The Florida Hospital Association is comprised of 183 hospitals and health systems from across the state. Through representation and advocacy, education, and informational services, we support the mission of our members to provide the highest quality of care to the patients we serve. For more information, visit www.fha.org.
About the American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 77,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. For more information, visit www.facs.org.
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Online June 30, 2010